Sundance Film: These Amazing Shadows

The last film I saw at Sundance was another documentary. This was the only film I saw that was not in competition. These Amazing Shadows was at Sundance for its premier.

These Amazing Shadows is about the history of film in America and how the National Film Registry which is a part of the Library of Congress has been selecting 10 films a year for preservation based on their cultural, historical, and aesthetic significance.

This was such a fascinating documentary to watch. They covered why the Library of Congress decided to start preserving films, how the films are selected, and the issues with preserving films. It also took a look at some of the most significant films in the registry and why they are there.

As always, I loved the Q&A with the directors. They discussed some of the difficulties in finding these films even just to add a few short clips to their documentary. Apparently over 50% of the films made before the 1930s (?) have already been lost because the movie industry didn't see them as being of value to keep around.

A very interesting trip through American film history.

Sundance Film: The Green Wave

Ok, so I am an ignorant American.

The Green Wave is another documentary in the World Documentary competition. This one was about the 2009 elections in Iran.

How did I not know any of this had happened? I resolve to pay more attention to world politics. So here is the simplified version of the of what the film covers. In May of 2009 the majority of the people of Iran supported a new man for office instead of re-electing the one who had been in office (sorry too lazy to look of the spellings of the names). People went out to vote, but by evening, polls were starting to run out of ballots because, as it turned out, the party for the guy currently in office was stuffing the ballet box. This sparked peaceful demonstrations in the streets for a fair election, but the government sent in the police and put the smack down on the people. The result was 70 people dead, hundreds injured, and hundreds more sent to prison and tortured. The government's terrorism went on all summer long until the people finally just gave up. So the current president got to stay in power and is currently still the president.

I know! It's hard to believe that something like this can happen. I know it does, but it just always seems like stuff like this should be in the past.

Anyways, a very interesting, if depressing film. Although I do think it ended on a note of hope: that even the people who were victims of these terrible crimes against human rights still believe that their country can one day turn around.

Sundance Film: Family Portrait in Black and White

AMM, KK, and I went to see our first Sundance film tonight. It is called Family Portrait in Black and White and is in the World Documentary competition. There are four categories of competing films at the festival; US Dramatic and Documentary and World Dramatic and Documentary. There are other films that show or premier at the Sundance Film Festival (hoping to get picked up by a larger film company), but they cannot win any of the awards or money.

Anyways, Family Portrait was a excellent film. One of the best I've seen at Sundance. It follows a Ukranian single woman who is foster parent to 27 bi-racial (half Ukraine, half African) children. The director did such an incredible job showing these AMAZING kids and their struggles with racism in the Ukraine even though they identify themselves as Ukranian. The film also showed Olga, the foster mother's, amazing capacity to love these kids, but her flaws too. You could definitely see her way of thinking was shaped by her life in Soviet Russia (keep your head down, and work, work, work).

This film was so emotional for me. My heart breaks just thinking of young Andrey who was sent to a boarding school for special needs children, when he has no real learning disabilities except maybe dyslexia.

Wow, this is why I keep going to Sundance even though it's such a headache trying to get tickets, find parking, wait in lines, etc.

SMART Goals

So it's coming up on a month since New Year's. How are you doing on your resolutions? One of my resolutions is to review my goals every month. I took a look today at my list. So far I'm doing fairly well. Not as good as I would hope, but not as bad as it could be.

I was reading a running magazine today and I came across something interesting talking  about smart New Year's goals. That's smart as in S-M-A-R-T. Here's what it said. Keep in mind that it came from a running magazine, but I think it can and should definitely be applied to all types of goals.

SMART is an acronym describing a goal-setting method developed by sport psychology  researchers to help athletes. The letters in the acronym stand for characteristics of effective goals:

S= Specific. Goals need to be specific. Simply setting a goal to increase running pace isn't specific enough. Rather, a goal to run 10 seconds faster per mile puts focus on a specific performance characteristic and guides training.

M= Measurable. Every goal needs to have some measurable characteristic. In the endurance sports world, the task is a little easier because everything comes down to distance, speed and time. When setting training sessions, clear measurable goals are best. An example would be setting a goal to average 20 mph on the bike over the course of a training session.

A= Adjustable. A lot of people are surprised by this characteristic, but goals should be adjustable. Injuries or other personal issues happen and can derail goals that are set in stone. The ability to adjust a goal ensures progress. It can also help maintain motivation.

R= Realistic. It is great to set lofty goals and to challenge oneself, but unrealistic goals are rarely achieved, which leads to discouragement. Realistic goals encourage continued achievement.

T= Time Sensitive. Goals should not have an indefinite deadline. For example, the goal of consistently running 50 miles a week after six months of training provides a deadline that requires some time and effort from the goal-setter to make a reality.

AMM had actually mentioned these first two to me around New Year's time, but I have to admit that adjustable did come as a surprise to me. I think too often we just give up as failures rather than try to figure out how we can adjust or adapt a goal.

Family Literacy Symposium

On Saturday, the library hosted its 4th annual literacy symposium. It's a free conference for adults in the community to get themselves and their family excited and involved in reading. It's stuff like this that reminds me why I love my job. I love being involved in something that promotes the love of reading, great authors, and the sharing and spreading of thoughts and ideas.

This year's guest author was Leif Enger from Peace Like a River fame and he was great if a little scattered. It made me so happy just being in the room listening to Leif talk about why reading is so great. I want to do a little happy dance just thinking about it.

I was also excited/nervous because I actually got to present in one of the break out sessions again this year. My presentation, along with my supervisor, and the director of the library was on the best adult books of 2010. I feel like the session went well, we needed lots more time and my summaries made less and less sense as I had to adapt for the lack of time, but otherwise I felt like it went pretty well.

Some of the books I discussed have already been mentioned on this blog, but below you will find a list of all the ones I talked about and a here is a link to our official bibliography for the session.

Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English by Natasha Solomons
Romancing Miss Bronte by Juliet Gael
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier
Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotay
Juliet by Anne Fortier
The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
The Girl with Glass Feet by Ali Shaw
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
Brava, Valentine by Adriana Trigiani
Tongues of Serpents by Naomi Novik
Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal
Shades of Gray by Jasper Fforde
Troubled Waters by Sharon Shinn
The Blind Contessa's New Machine by Carey Wallace

I haven't heard any official word yet on how well the symposium went, but from what I observed it went smoothly and was well received by the people who attended.

Another Restaurant Review - Milagros

On Monday, I got together with all my work friends to celebrate some birthdays. There were 4 people there that had had a birthday in the last week (including husbands). It's almost like my family birthday clusters. I just love hanging out with the people I work with. They are all so much fun! Is that odd?

We decided to try a new Mexican restaurant in town called Milagros. Apparently the former owners of Bajio's have now opened this restaurant and while Milagros is a dine-in restaurant (with a take-out counter) I did notice several similarities.

1. They had the same rice options, Spanish (spicy) or sweet.
2. The decorations, especially the paintings, looked very similar.
3. The menus were very similar. Of course that's to be expected with Mexican food, but what I mean is the ingredients were the same for a burrito, etc. at both places.

Anyways, the food was very good. I would definitely recommend going. I'm just not sure if I'll be going back. I just don't dine out enough, and I'm not sure I would crave the food enough to NEED to go back. Especially when I can get most of it at Bajio's.

What Would the Founding Fathers Think About Our World Today?

Seth Meyers from Saturday Night Live weighs in on the 2nd Amendment debate in the wake of the Arizona shooting.

This made me laugh!

Este's Pizzeria

I'm not picky when it comes to pizza. I like pretty much every pizza place out there, but if you're looking for some good pizza, then look no further than Este's.

I've been there only once before and since their two locations are only in Salt Lake, it makes it hard to get back there.

Este's is a New York Style Pizzeria with large slices of of thin crust pizza. They have very tasty sauce and heavenly bread. I ordered a slice of the black olive and garlic. The garlic was real, fresh garlic not the dehydrated powder stuff. Making for an excellent slice of pizza.

Their special that night was Pig Lightning. Intriguing name, but didn't really tempt me.

We got there right before a huge dinner rush so we were lucky to get our pizzas in about 20 minutes. If we'd been any later it would have been 45-60 minutes. I don't know if it's always like that or not.

Este's will definitely stay on my restaurants to try again list.

Z is for Zamboni

AMM, KK, Jen, and I went to a Grizzlies hockey game on Saturday. The Grizzlies are Utah's pro hockey team. They were fighting the Stockton, CA Thunder. I say fighting because there was a lot of fighting and not as much competing.

KK got us great seats. They were right behind Stockton's bull pit. So we got to see everything up front and personal.

To prepare ourselves for this hockey experience, we read this book on the way to SLC.

We figured a Children's book would give us the basics of the game without getting into too much detail. The book was perhaps a little too basic considering A was for Arena. I think I already knew that one.

So instead I will provide my own A-Z list for you.

A is for Anniversary. A couple was celebrating their 58th anniversary at the game! They put them on camera and they gave each other a kiss.

C is for Coach. The Grizzlies coach got so mad that they were losing that he threw all their extra hockey sticks out onto the ice and a few water bottles just for good measure.

D is for Double Bubble. We never did figure out what it was for but there were several pieces evenly spaced out on the ledge at the back of the bull pit.

E is for Equipment Manager. Since we were right next to the team we got to watch him quite closely. He did a great job catching those sweaty/bloody towels and he was kind of a hottie to boot.

F is for fight. One broke out in the first 2 seconds of the game.

H is for the best half-time ever! They brought out the Mites (little league hockey team) to play a quick game. They were falling all over the place and absolutely adorable.

R is for Ref. They have to be quick on their feet or they can accidentally get caught in the middle of a body slam against the side.

S is for Stretching and Staring. What one of the Stockton players did at the beginning of each period. He would stare right at us while he did a few leg stretches.

T is for Teeth. Something lacking for a lot of the players.

Z is for the Zamboni kid. Cute 10-12-year-old that got to ride around the rink at half-time. They announced that he likes science and reading and he waved the whole time like he was in a parade.

Canadian Indie Electronica...Me Likey

The band, Miracle Fortress, is actually only one man (although you would never know it to hear the album).

I first heard the song Maybe Lately several months ago and liked it, but never got around to listening to any other songs until recently. Having now listened to the whole album, I can tell you I quite like it. The songs are very soft. Miracle Fortress, like most electronica bands does get a little carried away with the sound effects at times, but I am willing to overlook this.

It also seems strange to say this since electronica seems like it should be the antithesis of folk, but there is a folksy feel to certain songs.

In true Indie spirit, Miracle Fortress is so far under the radar I could only find one music video on You Tube. So you will just have to make do with some home made videos I found.

Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks Vol. 2

I helped an older gentleman the other day. He came up to the desk and tossed down a scrap of paper with a call number on it and said he had no idea where to look for the book. So I took his request as a two-parter. One, help him locate the book he was looking for and two, give him the know how to find books in the future.

I walked over to the row the book was located on and pointed out the sign with the call number range explaining that his number fell in that range so the book would be located on that row. The old man looked at me like I was crazy and went off about how old he was, and how could I expect him to learn new things. He was almost dead after all (his words, not mine).

This got me thinking about learning new things. Are we ever too old to learn something new or is it just our mind set? A few years back I asked one of my brothers to help me change the oil in my car. He said he would do it, but then lectured me about how easy it was to learn to do, and that I should be doing this myself. Well, I know I could learn how to change the oil, but frankly, I have no desire to do so. Instead I just now ask my other brother for help who never pesters me about learning to do it myself. Helping this man got me thinking that when I have the opportunity to learn something new, should I be taking that opportunity? I definitely don't want to be the old person who is unwilling to learn anything new.

Here's another thought. Does it get harder to learn things as we get older? Technology is the perfect example. Older people complain all the time that they just can't figure it out. Is there a process to learning that if you haven't developed the foundation then no amount of trying will allow you to retain what you are trying to learn? Maybe this is proof that you need to stay on top of new trends and always be ready and willing to learn something new.

Just FYI, one of my New Year's Resolutions is to learn (or improve upon) two new things this year.

Is It Rational to Be Irrational or Irrational to be Rational?

Why is it that we can completely understand something rationally, yet at times still react irrationally?

I’m sure many of you have experienced something like this when confronted with a fear or phobia. For example, I am deathly afraid of doctors, needles, and blood. Rationally I know that the needle isn’t going to hurt that bad, but I still freak out, start crying, and so forth.

Fears are the most obvious example, but it happens plenty of other times in life too. I’m sure you can think of a time or two when you wished you hadn’t overreacted.

However, at other times our emotions are completely controllable. For example, over the holidays, I started to get really annoyed with certain family members because they are ALWAYS late and on top of that they don’t even call. Those of us on time have to wait, while starving, for everyone else to finally show up. Well, I was working myself up to a fever pitch about the whole thing when all of a sudden it hit me that these were people I cared about and it wasn’t really worth getting mad over. The bad habit would probably never change so why should I create animosity between us? After I thought that, I totally calmed downed and everything is cool again.

So why, I ask you are we able to act rationally some times but not others?

Nothin' Else to Post Anyways

I haven't really had anything noteworthy or otherwise to post for a few days so instead I will provide this entertainment for you. (stole from a friend who posted it on Facebook)

Talking Myself Off the Ledge

So yesterday, New Year's Eve, I had some time to think about what I wanted my goals (resolutions) to be for 2011. I very diligently wrote them all down, thought about them for a few hours, revised the list, and generally felt pretty good about the whole thing. I was, however, in one of those "anything is possible" frame of minds.

Today I woke up completely stressed that I wouldn't be able to accomplish anything, and what was I thinking coming up with these goals, etc., etc.

I had to give myself a little pep talk about how all of my goals are feasible. I didn't put anything crazy on there and that nothing has changed in one day that could prevent me from accomplishing these goals.

I call this talking myself off the ledge, and I really hope I'm not the only one this happens to.

I just hope I don't have to do this every morning. Wish me luck!